Sarah's determination buck.

As most of you know, Sarah and I have been together for almost 2 years. One of our first conversations was about hunting. She showed me pictures of bucks that she had killed with her rifle over the years. She also told me that she was a bow hunter. She likes to sit in a grove of trees with just her bow and ghillie suit. That is awesome. That is how I like to do it, be up close and personal to the game you pursue.

Over the last year and a half her shoulders have really been giving her trouble. So much trouble that she couldn't pull back her regular compound bow. I could tell this really disappointed her. She couldn't do something anymore that she loved doing. So I mentioned the idea of a crossbow. I told her about the crossbow permit application she would need to fill out and bring to a doctor in order to be able to shoot a crossbow during hunting season in the state of North Dakota. Evidently the Game & Fish think using a crossbow is cheating or something. There are many states that allow crossbows during regular bow season or have their own seasons altogether. But I digress.

Once we started the paperwork for the crossbow permit, we started looking at crossbows. I found some online that I knew would fit her and would have a cranking device for cocking. This makes it a lot easier than using a rope cocker. I even contacted my friends at Scheels to see if they could help. They gave me some good info, we decided to go up there and have her put her hands on some. As soon as she grabbed one of those crossbows it seemed natural. It looked good on her. But what wouldn't. She grabbed it and held it to her shoulder just like she had done it 1000 times. She looked down the scope and the fit was perfect. Everything was great except the price tag. Crossbows are expensive, especially if you want the new lightweight, fast shooting, easy maintenance, accurate right out of the box crossbows.

I looked all over the internets for the best deal on one of those crossbows that worked perfectly for her. But we wanted to wait before we pulled the trigger on purchasing a new crossbow just in case the crossbow permit paperwork did not go through. It was just about this time when we were about to give up on this year's hunting season when I received a big box in the mail. I had no clue what was in there. When I opened the box it said Barnett Crossbows. I was a little confused. I didn't order anything. Once I got the box open there was a brand new Barnett HyperGhost 425 crossbow with the new micro-diameter Hyperflight arrows. I was in shock. Where did this come from I thought to myself. So I decided to check my e-mail and I found out that I was given this crossbow for free to test out and use. You see Mossy Oak who I have been a pro-staffer for and Barnett partnered up to put together this awesome crossbow. What are the odds I would receive this free crossbow right at this time when we were looking for something just like it? Sometimes things happen for a reason. This is one of those times. Un-freaking believable.

I believe I received the crossbow around October 15. The next day I had my dad put the crossbow together which is pretty easy. It is just one bolt tightened with an Allen wrench. The next day I had my friend Tito come out to help sight it in. I would normally do this myself but this crossbow isn't like mine. It is built in one solid piece. My Carbon Express Intercept crossbow is built on an AR platform. Everything is adjustable. I could use this new Barnett HyperGhost crossbow but I would have to put it in my rifle mount system that hooks to my wheelchair. I look forward to doing this this summer.

Anyway, Tito and I set up a couple of targets. My Block target and my Big Shot Ballistic 450 X bag target were set out at 20 yards. Tito cocked the bow, placed an arrow and clicked the safety forward onto fire. He held on the center target and squeezed the trigger. The next thing I knew I heard a "snap." I didn't hear the crossbow fire I just heard the sound of the arrow smacking the bag target. Holy shinto this thing is fast I thought to myself. We both looked at each other and said wow. We had to adjust the scope a couple clicks higher and a couple clicks to the right and it was dead on. Tito fired about six shots after we got it dialed in just to make sure it was on and just because it is fun to shoot. This was actually his first time ever shooting a crossbow. He is also left-handed and it doesn't matter which way you shoot this crossbow, it is ambidextrous. That is neat.

I was excited. I sent Sarah a text and told her that the crossbow was dialed in. Now all I needed was to find a broadhead that would work well with these micro-diameter Hyperflight arrows. I contacted FeraDyne Outdoors, makers of the finest broadheads and they gave me some options. A couple of their options included mechanical broadheads. I was a little leery of this. I don't like shooting mechanicals out of my crossbow because I am worried about them opening prematurely in-flight because of the high speed that these crossbows produce. But the lady assured me that these Muzzy Trocar HBX crossbow broadheads wouldn't deploy prematurely. So I decided to give them a whirl. Three days later they were in my mailbox. So I called up Tito again to have him come over and help me test out the new broadheads.

The hardest part about testing these broadheads was opening the package. Good grief these things are almost impossible to open. I was worried about Tito slicing more of his fingers off but we managed to do it without incident. Tito spun on the new Muzzy Trocar HBX broadheads, set up the Block target at 20 yards and lined up the scope. He squeezed the trigger and the arrow sliced the bull's-eye. It almost also blew right through the target. The new Hyperflight arrows really do have +25% increased penetration over the competition. I was totally impressed with the accuracy of the combination of these broadheads and arrows. I knew they were going to be a deadly combination.

Now all we needed was for Sarah to come shoot the new crossbow. We had to wait a while for everyone's schedules to line up. I believe it was a weekday night and it was windier than heck. Cold too. So we decided to set up the targets outside of the shop and opened the door about a foot and a half. We would sit inside enjoying the warmth only having to face the North Dakota suck when retrieving the arrows from the target. Ingenious I know.

Sarah grabbed the bow and we showed her how to load an arrow. It comes natural to her. You can tell she has been around guns before. She held it to her shoulder, closed her left eye, looked through the scope with her dominant right eye, took a deep breath, let out half and squeezed the trigger. Smack! Another bull's-eye. She shot probably another half dozen times and was smoking the center ring every time. We all agreed, she was ready. So we hopped in the pickup and headed to the Spare Time to celebrate.

The next thing we needed was to find her a spot to hunt. I knew I wanted her to hunt in my spot. The same spot where I have shot three different bucks including the buck I shot this year. My trail camera in this spot was still getting lots of pictures including one doozy 4 x 4 that she had her eye on. He is tall and wide but the only problem he is also nocturnal. They don't get big being dumb but the rut was coming near. Maybe this would be her opportunity to put this big boy down. Maybe he would become careless when he was twitterpated. A bunch of skinheads had moved in so you just knew the bucks were going to be active in this area.

She hunted in my spot six times. All of these times were either pre-rut or full-fledged rut. All of the hunts took place between November 6 and November 21. There should have been deer everywhere, every night. She would take off work early and get here around 3 PM. She would sit until there was no light waiting for Mr. Big. But it never happened. I tried to keep her spirits up and tell her it is just going to take time. The 4 x 4 will screw up eventually. 

But that too never happened. She only saw two skinheads in those six sits, along with some rabbits, blue jays and some really annoying squirrels. She was losing hope and I could not blame her. I sat in this spot one time during the bow season, October 20 and shot a doozy 5 x 4. But I told her I usually sit 15+ times a year and many of those times I do not see a deer. But she knows hunting. She knows it is hunting, it's not killing. The biggest thing is that she wanted to get something before it got really cold out. She is just little.

For the story of the hunt, it is in Sarah's own words.

So the morning of this hunt November 23, I found out from Nathan that there was a really nice buck just ½ mile southwest of our place that he saw the night before. So I decided to give it a try over there instead of at Clint's place. I left his house having this feeling that I was forgetting something but I went through everything in my mind and I couldn’t figure out what that one thing was so I pushed that feeling out of my head. So when I got home Nathan drove me out to the spot where I was going to be sitting so I knew where to go. I went home to make myself something to eat before hunting while he went out the tree row to put a bucket out there for me to sit on.

So here I am getting ready and that one nagging feeling I had earlier popped into my head. I forgot my bow tag and my crossbow permit. So then I texted Clint and asked if he could run it over to me. I finally got all my layers of clothing on for the hunt, even though it was 45 degrees outside. So I showed Nathan how to get the crossbow ready for me and we make our way out to the tree row that I’m going to sit in. I get my scent drag wrapped around my ankle, put some Whitcomb's individual doe in estrus on there and start trekking out to my spot (Nathan had it marked with an orange hat). So I get to the spot and I realize that there aren’t that many open shooting lanes so I take all of my gear, with the bucket and move it a little bit to the west. After I finally get situated I’m sitting there waiting for the good stuff to happen when I see two does to the south of me and they’re making their way towards me. I look to the north tree row and there are two more does wandering around. So now I’m getting really hyped up and here comes this dark pickup driving up and down the gravel road right to the west of me. Granted I know it’s a public road but both sides are posted and this guy had been driving up and down this road four times already and he has his own hunting spots so this really irks me. The idiot stops his pickup right at the end of the tree row to watch these does and he’s sitting there for so long that it spooks the deer away that were heading right at me. 

So now, knowing from experience from past hunts, I figured that since the does are spooked that I won’t see anything else for the rest of the night. And yes, I was being negative. Now I’m sitting there again waiting and I’m messing with this buck grunt call app I have on my phone, hoping to god it will work and I’m kind of giving up hope that I’ll even see anything. It’s getting later and later and dark and just when I was about ready to give up hope and head back, I hear this loud rustling and I think it’s in the tree row that I’m sitting in. So I’m straining my ears trying to figure out where it’s coming from. I finally see movement to the west of me, right by the cattail slough. Here is this doe making her way towards the field to the north and I hear grunting and rustling right in the tree row to the north. I was hoping that they would make their way to me before it got too dark to shoot but they weren’t really going that fast and I didn’t think they would make it in time. Then I hear more rustling, more grunts and doe bleats. I’m getting more excited. So I start using my deer call app a little more hoping for the best and I see them start really moving. They were running around, back and forth, like a bunch of idiots. I absolutely love to watch that!!! So I’m trying to keep my eye on everything but it’s hard to keep my eye on that many deer and watch in front of me and pay attention to what’s happening behind me. I’m watching this doe and a buck chasing after her and they were running around so I decided to use my buck fighting call, that stops them dead in their tracks and then they just bolt towards the tree row that I’m sitting in. Well, I can’t see them anymore so I figure they are right on the edge of the tree row running towards me and I’m waiting for them to appear right in front of me when I hear this noise behind me. I turn around and here is the buck right behind me running towards me. I forgot to mention that earlier I had sprinkled doe pee all over my bib overalls. So here is this horny buck running at me and it kind of freaked me out. So I get my crossbow up and I can’t seem to find the damn safety. When I finally find the safety and take that off I look through the scope but I can’t see shit. For one it was getting dark and for another reason the buck was so close that I couldn’t see him in my scope. The buck turns and runs away for a little bit and stops. I finally get him in my scope and he starts running again so I take a shot at him while he was running away from me. I don’t even remember if I aimed or if it was just one of those lucky shots. Everything happened so fast that I really don’t remember seeing anything in the scope when I pulled the trigger. All I know is that I heard the arrow hit something but the first thought that crossed my mind was "Shit I just messed up and hit the ground."

So I watched him run away not looking injured at all and I’m beating myself up the whole time. He gets about 100 yards away and he just stops. I watch him for a while as it’s getting darker and darker until I can barely see him anymore. That’s when I finally text Nathan that I shot at something but I’m shaking so bad that it came out as "I sho at something" and it took me forever to type that out haha. He asks if I want him to come out there and I said yes. While I’m waiting for him to show up I texted Clint and told him that I shot at something but I didn’t know if I hit it or not. I didn’t even get a good look at the buck to see how big the antlers were. It’s kind of hard to notice that sort of thing when you think you’re going to get raped by a horny buck and you’re covered with doe in estrus pee.

When Nathan shows up I grab all of my gear and start making my way towards the vehicle to drop off the crossbow but I marked where I took my shot with the orange hat before I left. When we get back to the spot where I took my shot he’s asking me all of these questions like "How far away was he when you shot?", "How far did he run?", stuff like that and I didn’t really know how to respond to that because everything looks so different in the dark.

So we start looking for signs of a good shot or any blood (I was actually looking for the orange and white color of the arrow because I thought I had missed him). I get out about 25-30 yards and I spotted some blood. I almost started jumping up and down because I was so happy that I had hit him. But then the thought popped into my head "What if I just hit him in the leg or nicked him?" So we start following the blood trail and there was starting to get more blood spots and not just little droplets so my hopes started going up and I’m getting more excited. Then Nathan gets his binoculars out and scans out in the distance when we get out a little ways in the field and spots something lying down and we think it’s my buck but we’re not for sure. So now we have the dilemma of should we keep on or let him lay for a little while longer? We don’t want him to get up and start running again but the way he was laying it looked like he was down for the count. So we make the decision of me waiting right there while Nathan goes home and gets his bow just in case when we do get closer and the buck jumps up, Nathan has something he can finish it off with. Well that wait took forever and I was getting kind of mad because I really wanted to find my buck. Nathan finally shows up with Sage and we start in on the blood trail again and we finally come across a big pool of blood, then another one. They both had bubbles in it so we all figured it was a lung shot. Then all of a sudden it just stops and I’m wondering how the hell can a buck just stop bleeding and where the hell is he at? So we’re sitting there looking at it from different spots and going back to the big pools of blood trying to find the trail when the thought comes to Nathan that sometimes deer double back when they’re injured so he backtracks to the pool of blood and goes to the southeast instead of northwest and that’s when he found the trail again. We go a little bit farther and Sage lifts up his flashlight to scan the field and he spots the big boy down. We take our time getting to him because we wanted to make sure he was dead but when we got closer I could see he wasn’t breathing.

I finally got up to my buck and I see that I didn’t make a lung shot but I had got that buck right in the neck and it was a gaping hole. He didn’t last long after I shot him. He must’ve bled out pretty fast. I was happy as a clam!!! Then we all realized that we were not going to be able drag him out of the muddy field and we couldn’t drive Nathan’s Jeep to him so Nathan and Sage had to leave me there, yet again, to go home and get the four wheeler to drag him out to the Jeep. That trip didn’t take as long as the first one. So as we were getting him ready to drag back, Clint sent me a text that he was almost to my place with my tag and permit, thank god. We get him to the jeep and load him on the carrier and hightail it ½ mile home to get my bow tag on him. When we pull up Clint was already there waiting and the first thing he said, "Does anyone need a tag?"

Now back to me as storyteller.

As soon as I got out of the pickup Sarah grabbed the tag off of my tray, handed it to Sage and he notched the dates, then he quickly wrapped it around an antler. Then the story time started. Sarah was so excited. It was awesome. She was explaining the events that just took place. Then my parents got in her car and drove back to Enderlin. We were going to meet them at the locker later. After they took off it was picture time. I couldn't believe how big this 5 x 5 was. He was bigger than the 4 x 4 she was after at my place. Everyone had a smile on their face from ear to ear. We took a bunch of pictures. Then Nathan and Sage started the process of gutting it. It didn't take them long, besides the time it took for Nathan to gag a couple times. The buck was rutted up something terrible and did not smell very good. While this was happening Sarah was inside showering, getting rid of the doe in estrus perfume that she had accenting her. Good stuff. After she was done we went to Litchville to see how much he weighed and to do some quick measurements. I believe he weighed 165 pounds and had an outside spread of just under 18. It doesn't matter. He is an awesome buck. We got him loaded up again and made our way to Enderlin to drop him off at Maple Valley Meats. Once we got there my dad met us and he strung up the buck, washed out the cavity and pushed him in to the freezer. It's handy knowing people. We then decided to head to the Spare Time for celebratory libations. It was good times.

She is going to get the head and antlers made into a European mount. I can't wait to see the mount, it is not going to suck. But even better is the freezer full of tenderloin, back straps and ground burger that is going to nourish everyone throughout the year.

We would both like to thank Tito, Uncle Gary and my dad for cocking the crossbow for Sarah so she could hunt at the farm. The crossbow is real tough to cock back if you are not tall and have the shoulder strength to pull. I ordered the cranking cocker device so it will be on hand next year, using this is much easier. The crossbow was always ready for her when she got here and we are indebted. We would also like to thank Nathan and Sage for the help in tracking and gutting, along with scouting this doozy.

What an awesome story. I couldn't be more proud of her. I know what it is like to be discouraged about things not working the way they should. She didn't let the negativity take over. She kept pursuing until she achieved her goal. Hunt number seven did not suck.

Thanks for reading, Sarah and Clint.

2011 My First Rifle Deer Kill.

Deer rifle opener always reminds me of my first deer kill with a rifle. In fact, it was my first deer kill with a rifle either able bodied or not. I only had one rifle tag before my accident and I wasn't able to close the deal. I'm kind of glad it happened the way it did. Many years later, after many trials and tribulations and after thinking it would never happen after my accident.

This hunt was quite memorable for more than one reason. Some of those reasons I probably shouldn't say. But here's the gist of the story.

After quite a few years working on my rifle mount that attaches to my wheelchair we finally we had it figured out. At least that part of the problem. The trigger had always been the biggest problem when trying to get a rifle to work for me. But when the idea for the adaptive trigger came to fruition (story of trigger mechanism) everything started coming together.

I had had one rifle tag before. I believe that was in 2009, maybe. Over the summer before I decided to buy a semi auto deer rifle because I figured I would be sitting by myself and I knew I would not be able to jack in another bullet if I needed to fire another shot. So I bought myself a Remington model 7400 in the .243 caliber. I even had a chance of shooting a doozy that year but I blew it. He was less than 140 yards away and I can still see him when I close my eyes. His 4 x 4 ivory white antlers were chasing skinheads just north of our farmstead and when I pulled back on the trigger I heard a click. Geesh. The action was not shut all the way. After that miscue I used a bolt action but never had another opportunity to shoot a buck that year.

But 2011 was going to be different. The main reason for that was because of my friend Kirk (KDM). I had told him or he had read about my trials and tribulations of trying to get my first rifle kill and he offered his land which is in and adjacent to the Sheyenne River valley. It is prime land for wildlife and when he offered me this chance to hunt on it, I jumped at it. Well not really literally jumped but you can imagine. KDM told me this, "You are going to shoot a buck and it is going to be on my land!"

After talking quite a bit during the summer with KDM, we devised a plan to build a blind that I could easily use. He found an old sleeper box for a semi that was going to work sweet. He placed it on his land overlooking a valley that had been known to hold a lot of deer. The week before the season started we met up again and worked out the wrinkles in the blind. The day before the season opened I went over again to check it out and everything worked perfectly. But when Friday came around the wind picked up from the south and it was gusting hard. The south wind was not going to be good, everything that was going to come in front of me would come from the north and they would wind us a long ways away.

So on opening day while I was on my way over to KDM's, he came up with a new plan. We were not going to sit in the blind. We would hunt on some other land of his which was north about a mile and a half. We were going to sit in the CRP and wait for the deer to start moving. I believe I got there about 10 or 15 min. before the season opened, which always opens at noon. We were bouncing through the CRP when we found a good spot and I was opening the side door of the shaggin wagon with a couple minutes to spare. KDM got my rifle mount attached and my Remington 243 model 7400 rifle cocked locked and ready to rock right on time. I didn't think we were going to see a deer, especially that early in the afternoon. But I knew this was prime land. I knew there was a lot of deer in the area but I didn't think they would show with the shaggin wagon nearby.

I believe it was around one o'clock in the afternoon when two big does with two fawns came running right beside us. They had to actually run around the shaggin wagon to get to where they were going. After we saw them go by, we decided to move a little closer so we could see over the draw just in case something tried to sneak in. At 3 PM I noticed a deer sneaking out of the shelter belt in front of us. KDM exclaimed joyfully, "It's a buck!" As soon as he said that I noticed the antlers coming out of the trees. He was probably around 200 yards away, a good shot for me but he was actually coming closer.

The buckaroo stood by that corner post.

As we were watching the buck I will paint you the picture of what is happening in the shaggin wagon. KDM is sitting in the front passenger seat and I am in the back of the shaggin wagon with the side door open and the ramp down. My rifle is aimed out of the side and I am trying to get on this buck. It was kind of a cluster. I had to pivot and move my chair side to side to get him in the general area so I could see him in my scope. Once he was in my scope I had to adjust my chair up and down to get the crosshairs lined up on him. Then once the crosshairs were lined up on him I needed to put the center of the reticle right in the kill spot. This was all happening in the back of the shaggin wagon. Neat. Thankfully KDM had the shaggin wagon parked perfectly in the CRP.

As you could imagine, it took me a little while for me to get the crosshairs on him. Probably just over a minute. But it seemed like forever. It seemed like an eternity for KDM. Ha ha. I could not believe the buckaroo just stood there. Just when you could tell he was starting to get antsy, KDM yelled at him, "Hey!" He yelled to get him to stand there a little longer. It worked. He was now about at 170 yards, broadside. KDM looked back at me and said, "If you want him, shoot him. He isn't going to stand there all day." After I heard that, I pulled on the trigger and smacked him good, right in the pump station. He hunched over immediately, ran about 30 yards and piled up.

As KDM was looking through his binoculars he said, "He isn't going anywhere, you got him good!" Then we started celebrating. If you know KDM, you know he can get excited. It was awesome. The excitement he had for this moment was worth it. I just smiled and took it all in.

As we started to calm down, we got everything taken off my wheelchair and the rifle packed away. Then I got strapped back into the shaggin wagon with the ratchet straps and we started bouncing out of the CRP back to the approach. Once we got to the gravel road, he called his wife Sandy to have her bring the pickup. We couldn't go straight to the kill spot through the CRP because of a draw in between us and him. By the time we got around to the other side of the quarter, Sandy and their daughter were right behind us. We had to bounce down about a half-mile of CRP to get to where the buck was. Once we got to the buckaroo, the celebrating started again, it was neat. Then we took a bunch of pics.

 

Tagged and ready to go in the bag.

We got the buck in the back of the pickup and we took off to their place. This was only about a couple miles away. Once we got there I called my mom and told her the story. I believe she was in Valley City with one of their vehicles doing a little shopping. When she got back to their place we had to decide what to do. I wanted to bring it back to the locker in Enderlin, Maple Valley Meats. But I didn't really want to haul it in the shaggin wagon. Then they remembered they had a bunch of plastic from a new couch that they just bought. So we wrapped up my buckaroo in plastic, put it beside me in the back of the shaggin wagon and mom and I headed to E-town redneck style.

 

This is how you transport a "Buck in a Bag" redneck style in the shaggin wagon.

Once we got to the locker my nephew Kolby was there to witness this redneck event and my buddy Lucas was also there. Luke per usual handle the guts and did the cape. The buck is now a shoulder mount on my wall.

 

This is my gut man and caper, Lucas a.k.a. Ham.

This was my first rifle kill and one that I will never forget. Thanks Kirk and family.

I have done a lot of neat stuff and things since that first time. But you always remember your first… Giggity.

Thanks for reading, Clint.

Kolby and mom enjoying the show at the locker.

2019 Crossbow Buck.

I woke up at 4 AM to excited to sleep. While watching ESPN I wrote this story in my brain. Around 7 AM I started to put it on the computer screen.

October 20 was going to be the first day I was going to sit in the blind with my crossbow for deer season. I guess there have been quite a few reasons why this was the first day. Usually I sit a couple times a week, throughout the season. But this year the bugs were just horrible during the early season. The last couple years I have waited for a frost to get out just to get rid of the annoying real North Dakota state bird, the mosquito. My apologies to any meadowlarks reading this. Of course this year when we got our first real good frost it came with 10+ inches of snow. That was nice. My blind where I wanted to go hunting was a complete mess. The snow, mud and trees that were down made it impossible for me to get to the blind for at least a week. Another excuse was my trip out west chasing speed goats.

So anyway, this Sunday was going to be the first day of my bow season. The wind had been out of the east or southeast for the last handful of days. The wind finally switched to the north around noon on the 20th. I got in the chair around 3:30 PM and got all my stuff ready for the hunt. That includes my crossbow, arrows, lubricant for crossbow rail, Mossy Oak camouflage clothing and deer tag. Around 4:30 PM I started to get dressed and got my crossbow attached to my chair. My Dad cocked my Carbon Express Intercept crossbow and I headed out to my blind which is 80 yards from my bedroom.

I forgot to mention earlier that it started raining about noon on this day. It was a light rain but it was steady. When I got outside I knew how steady the rain was. It was going to be a soaker. I could feel my tires sinking in on the gravel as I was making my way to the shop. As I got onto the lawn north of the shop the ground was greasy. My path through the trees was slime. But I was hunting and I didn't care. I was excited.

I had my dad place the arrow in my crossbow, then he lifted the pop-up blind up on the front end and I backed in to get situated making sure I could see what I needed to see in front of me. I had him take the safety off and told him everything was good. As he took off I looked around and wondered why I hadn't done this earlier this year. I love this stuff. It makes me happy in the facial region.

My blind is situated between two shelter belts. The old shelter belt that was planted around the farmstead is to my back. In front of me is the newer belt. There is about 10 yards in between the two belts and I sit on the south side of this gap aiming north, northwest. By the time I got everything situated I think it was around 5 PM. Sunset on this day was 6:35 PM. So it was going to be a short sit but I knew most of the deer that come through here show up within that last golden hour of light.

For the first 45 minutes I was entertained by a handful of protective blue jays and a couple of mad squirrels. They were all making noise. The blue jays were squawking and the squirrels were barking. It was entertaining. The only thing besides them that was constant was the noise was the rain on the roof of my pop-up blind. I thought to myself if I shoot a deer tonight I hope it is a quick tracking job because this rain is going to wash all of the evidence away.

At 5:45 PM I looked to my west, where the deer usually come from and noticed some movement. It was a doe. She was alone. As she got closer I recognized her. She is an older doe. Probably four or five years old. She is on my trail camera a lot. Pretty much daily and yearly. The trail camera is 15 feet to my west and it is aiming north. This is the first year that she has not had a fawn with her. I imagine the stinking coyotes must've taken her offspring. She was in front of me no more than 10 yards away for at least 15 minutes. I just love bow hunting. This is my addiction. Not many people get that close to a wild animal. She had no clue I was there. Her ears would perk up every once in a while but that was for the squawking blue jays for the barking squirrels. The wind was in my face and I knew if I could pass detection from this old doe, I would pass detection from every other deer that came by.

As she turned around she walked back to the west, angled into the old shelter belt and went to her regular bedding spot. I wonder how many times I have gone past her without noticing her or without her busting out. As she disappeared into the trees the rain started to come down harder. It was almost deafening inside the blind. But I was nice and toasty wrapped in my Mossy Oak apparel. The 45° temperature and wind wasn't bothering me at all.

The rain started to let up around 6:35 PM, right at sunset. I knew if I was going to see a buck it was going to be in the next half-hour. They are pretty much like clockwork around this area, at this time of day. They don't show up until that last golden half-hour.

Wouldn't you know it, less than 5 minutes later as I was looking around I noticed some antlers coming from over the top of the cottonwood saplings to my left. It was a doozy of a buck. I could tell it was big. He was coming from the west in between the two shelter belts headed right towards me. He was coming straight east and I knew he was one of the doozies I had on camera. My mind was racing. It was shocking to me that this was actually happening the first night I sat. I just needed him to stop. And he did. He stood right where I wanted him to. He put his head down for a while and then brought it up. He was comfortable. He had no clue I was there. He put his head down one more time and then brought it up looking to the east. By this time I had my crossbow scope lined up on his vitals just waiting for him to give me the right opportunity for the perfect shot. He was less than 10 yards away. As I looked through my scope, I raised my right hand and pulled back on the trigger. I heard a big crack. He jumped high. He went directly northeast into the new belt which was north of us. He actually crashed and broke branches making a new path through the jungle of branches. He made so much noise I actually thought that he expired and crashed in that little belt. I couldn't believe what just happened. I had to collect myself. I waited like a total of one minute and I called Don B. He says, "Hello?" In a quizzical, questioning voice. He usually knows if I call at this time when I am hunting it is for a tracking job. He said he would be right out and I told him that our friend T-rav said he was available to help track if needed. Don B said he would give him a call and they would head out. The next call I made was to the house. My Mom answered and I asked her to bring out some water and a flashlight. She says, "Why?" I said, "Because I think I just killed Mr. Big!"

When she got out to the blind she raised the front end of it and I drove out. I had her set the mug of water on my tray and I slurped it down. We went to the kill spot and looked for blood but didn't find any. I decided to head back to the shop to try and stay dry while we waited for my tracking crew. As we were waiting we could hear the rain coming down harder on the metal roof. I thought to myself this isn't good, this hard rain is going to wash away all of the blood that we need to track. Tracking is a skill. Some are good at it and some say they are. Don B and T-rav are about the best there is. They have helped in other situations. I met them outside the shop and I brought them to the kill site. They asked which way he was facing and I re-created the scene as the rain was drenching us. There was no blood where he was standing. But I looked to where he crashed through the trees and you could see fresh broken limbs. Right below some of the broken limbs T-rav found some blood. Not very much, just a couple drops he said as we could hear a pack of coyotes howling to the east. They were both searching and every once in a while I would hear them say, "Found some, found some more, here's a good spot of blood." But it was still pretty sporadic. I was getting nervous as I couldn't hear them anymore because of the pounding rain. I decided to go back to the shop and wait for their call. As I was headed back I could hear the coyotes again. Them jerks. I knew if we didn't find this deer tonight they would have him eaten up in a heartbeat.

When I got in the shop I tilted back in my chair as I listened to the rain on the metal roof. My guts were in a knot. I kept thinking to myself, I thought I made a perfect shot. I can't believe he could have gone that far. I was probably tilted back for about 8 minutes when I noticed my phone had a text message on it. I clicked on the message and a picture of a dead buck in a soybean field was on the screen. The message said from Don B, "Is this the one?" I replied back, "Probably!"

I couldn't believe it. This whole thing just happened. I got out of the shop and made my way the 30 or 40 yards north of the building to the kill spot to meet them. When I got out there I didn't see any flashlights or anything. I just heard a lot of grunting and giggling as they were pulling him through the still standing soybean field. I thought to myself, man he must've went along ways. A lot longer than I thought he could have. It was pretty much a broadside shot. His backside was a little farther away than his front but you can't ask for perfect every time. A little quartering away. As they were trying to find a way through the belt my mom showed them my path I use when I am checking for sign throughout the year. Once they got to that it was easier going. When they dropped him in front of me I was in awe. Holy Shinto. 

I shoot 20 inch arrows.

Don B said, "Congrats!" T-rav said excitedly, "What a pig!" We all couldn't believe how big his body was. His neck was just swollen. He was in pre-rut, hard. I couldn't believe how old he looked. He is an old bruiser. I recognized him as soon as they laid him in front of me. He has been on my cameras numerous times throughout the year. The sight of this beast lying in front of me was just awesome. It did not suck.

As we were admiring Mr. Big we looked at the shot placement. The shot wasn't too high, it wasn't too low and I wasn't too far back. It was a perfect double lung pass through. I then said, "I can't believe he went that far. How far do you think he went?" Don B said that he almost made it to the other belt to the north. I couldn't believe it. I thought that had to at least be 120 yards. But they explained once they got out of the little belt the blood trail was easy in the soybeans. It was shooting on both sides. Then T-rav looks down at his phone and says, "I have the blood spots mapped out on my on-X app on my phone." From kill site to where he laid it was 146 yards. Holy shinto that is a long ways to go with a complete pass through. The will to survive is strong with deer.

Use the code "mossyoak" to get 20% off your OnX membership.

Before we drug him to the pickup, Don B explained we should look for the arrow. I thought to myself we are never going to find that arrow. It is dark, it is wet and I would have a lot better chance finding it in the morning with some daylight. Right when I was about to turn around and leave Don B says, "Here it is!" It wasn't 3 yards from the kill site. Neat.

We then took a bunch of pictures, loaded it in the back of Don B's pickup and we headed to Maple Valley Meats. We used his pickup because mine still has a bunch of crap in it from my West River goat hunting trip. That reminds me I should clean that out sometime. After we got everything settled in the locker we went to the Spare Time for a couple stiff ones. We were all wore out and decided to make it an early night. I was home in bed by 10:15 PM. What a night it was though. I will never forget it.

I can't thank Don B and T-rav enough for the tracking and gut job. Better friends a guy could not ask for. Within 20 minutes from my call they were at the farmstead from town ready and willing to track in the rain. I later learned that they walked through water up to their knees. They were pretty much on their hands and knees looking for blood in the beginning. They were both drenched and full of mud. Thanks my friends. I am indebted. The Miller Lite is on me.

I want to thank Dad for helping and Mom for putting up with me and my hunting obsession. The tires on my chair are always full of mud and debris in the fall. It's a full-time job cleaning up after me. I suck.

I also want to thank Tito for coming out about a week ago after the snow melted to clear my path which was inundated by fallen trees and limbs. He brought out his chainsaw and went to work. He also took off 20 or 30 pounds of snow from my collapsed roof on my pop-up blind. I still can't believe that thing didn't get destroyed in the storm.

Tonight we will eat deer heart to honor the fallen. Thanks everybody who does what they do to let me do what I do. You all don't suck.

Thanks for reading, Clint.

Rediscovering myself and stuff.

Some people are lucky to find out what they are good at. Some people never find that out. Some people find it and it gets taken away. It sucks finding something new you are good at. But if you can rediscover yourself it might be better than the first you.

Before my injury I used to play piano. I wasn't very good but I didn't suck. I love everything about music and all kinds. After my injury music is sometimes the only thing that helps. I bought a harmonica and one of those braces that will let me use it without my hands. Now I need to learn, again.

Before my injury I used to play a lot of baseball. I watched a lot of baseball. After my injury I became a coach. It's scary to think I was in charge of 13-15-year-olds. But they learned stuff and things, plus some baseball.

Before my injury I used to do a lot of teenage things. You know the stuff. Some good and some not so good. After my injury I still like shenanigans. Some good and some really not so good.

Before my injury I wasn't in choir. After my injury I sing karaoke, in front of people. What's that all about? I was even on the karaoke circuit for a while. It doesn't pay well.

Before my injury I used to help around the farm doing a little bit of everything. I helped at our home place and my uncles places. After my injury I like to help out where I can. It is miniscule. I would like to do more.

Before my injury I was shy. After my injury Morgan has taking care of that affliction.

Before my injury I used to like to cook and eat. I wasn't a grand master chef but I could get the job done and it tasted not sucky. After my injury I still like to eat but now it is a different experience. I like going out to new restaurants and trying different flavors. I like looking at recipes and stuff.

Before my injury I would have never gone to college. After my injury I graduated from North Dakota State University. I still can't believe I did it. Geesh.

Before my injury I didn't know a lot of people. After my injury I know a lot of awesome people.

Before my injury I didn't do that much hunting. I only did one season with rifle and bow for whitetail, plus one season of upland game.  After my injury hunting has taken me to a lot of great places and taught me a lot of valuable stuff and things. I probably go hunting more than the average able-bodied person. That doesn't suck.

Before my injury I liked to fish. Although I didn't fish that much. After my injury I love to fish. I will fish anywhere for anything at any time.

Before my injury and after my injury is not the same, but it's kind of not different either… There is another Clintism for you.

Thanks for reading, Clint.